UC Davis Winemaking Certificate

Long story short, should I take the course?

A little about myself, I have a BS and MSCJ, and I’ve spent the last 20 years as a cop. I still have several years before I can retire but when I do, I plan on moving out to Napa/Sonoma and working in a winery. I’m open to any job, I just want to work at a winery. The reason I was looking at the program is that I can use my post 9/11 GI Bill, and I thought it might help me get my foot in the door. Is there any validity to that? Thanks for all the input.

It leans very heavily on chemistry and biochemistry, as well as analytical skills. The introductory course is easy and a good overview. After that it’s very demanding.

You certainly don’t need the cert to get a foot in the door. And really, some hands-on experience beforehand would help give context to what you study. Can you take vacation time to work as a harvest intern?

A good strategy might be to take the intro and other easier classes online, as well as other reading, tasting and so forth in preparation for working harvest next year. From there you’ll have a better idea if you want to go hard core and get the certificate or take a different path. A lot of great winemakers learned purely through the apprenticeship process, but the UC Davis program has a lot to offer.

Thanks, Wes. How do I go about getting a harvest internship?

Call wineries and ask them if they have openings well before the start of harvest. If you can swing it come out and visit with the winemakers and make some connections.

I think its always good to get knowledge, there are a lot of different places to get that knowledge. My wife did a few of the classes in this program and then stopped as she realized it was covering so much about how we did not want to make wine. There are a lot of good books that are great reference in times of need from the program. I do know a few up here that with the certificate who were able to go from cellar master to assistant winemaker with it at some larger wineries.

I do think the best way to get your foot in the door is via the tasting room. Its year around and there are always positions available. If you want to go that route some of the Sonoma State University courses or certificates may be a help. It can also let you see the business culture a little faster and working at a couple wineries will help you find what your passionate about. Lots of small family wineries have a close knit culture that some don’t like. Also are you a Cab or Pinot kind of guy? The best way to success is to find what part of the business your passionate about and go after it.

Sorry to bump an older thread, but I didn’t want to start a new one. I had similar questions to those asked by OP which you answered.

Does anyone know if there is a difference between the online course/cert and the actual on-campus program?

I think I’ve got a harvest lined up in the Southern hemisphere to start off with, but I do want to go through the UC Davis program eventually.

According to the Extension website, it’s similar, but different:

Although courses in this program draw heavily on material from the UC Davis curriculum, with the exception of Introduction to Wine and Winemaking, the courses are not duplicates of courses taught in the degree program at Davis. The classes are graded and rigorous, as are the courses within the degree program, but the online classes are somewhat less focused on theory and assume that the student has some practical experience in Wine Production.

Given my experience with the program that seems like a fair statement. It does share the textbooks of the undergraduate courses and my understanding from the professors is that it does share many of the test questions as well.

Overall, I’d say that you get out of the program what you put into it. Sometimes the material may seem on the surface to be prescriptive towards addressing specific needs, however, if you dig a little deeper into the materials, ask questions of others, and overlay your own experience with the science being taught then you can come out with a far better understand what’s happening and how to apply it. As a result, I’m more hands-off now as I have a better understanding of how nature works to turn grape juice into wine.

I found the program as a whole to be a bit underwhelming from the rigorous light in which they portray it. I would not consider it in the same league as a 2 or 4-year program in Vit and/or enology. That being said, if you are also working in the industry it gives you a fairly complete albeit limited base that I you could build on to become a winemaker; you just will need to use what you learned in class to direct your future learning. They also offer seminars and short extension courses on campus that are very beneficial to supplement in places where your hands-on experience is limited.

I just finished the program in May 2014. While I did not go to UC Davis for an undergrad, 4 of the five courses were pretty challenging. I did a harvest internship in 2008 and that experience combined with the online program were very good compliments. I also read a ton and am lucky to have a job that gets me exposure to winemaking. While I don’t think this would replace an undergrad, if it’s the best you can do while career changing or balancing a full time job and other life priorities, I think it’s money well spent.

While I haven’t made the transition to full time winemaking, I have learned this education is a step up and will help to open doors for you. It might just be enough to help me career change to winemaking

Over 9k for the online class…wow.

I was lucky and was able to get my employer to pay for it.